Twenty-five minutes ago…

"You can't be serious," Uyuniya said, her face adopting more wrinkles than tree bark. "We can't afford to go on tangents, especially ones like this. Look, if you don't care about my plight, that's fine, but isn't Skullius also on a time crunch too? He agreed to get me back home. The faster we get that done, the faster you get on with Skullius' goal."

Kintar genuinely looked conflicted – chewing her lips, eyes narrowed into strained slits.

"I hear you, I hear you…" she said, and her attention veered off to the purple glow in the distance. She didn't finish what she wanted to say, which stoked Uyuniya's fury.

"What is it? Is it because of that thing about this Thyrgga person?" she hissed.

Kintar's eyes scrolled back to the princess. She asked herself the same question and recalled what Pell had said when she'd asked who Thyrgga was.

He's some grand leader of one of the Stellars. That's all I know. I'm not quite as seasoned yet. They say he's a bane – or one of the banes – of the Primeval Deities themselves. The eyeball had shuddered, realizing that he'd goofed. It had been part of his strategy to probe the Stark Troops by claiming that he once served Momem Thyrgga. But now, he'd essentially admitted that that was a lie. Please spare me – spare US! I only said what I said to judge if you were from around here or not.

Kintar had scoffed… but she didn't deliver the killing blow as she'd originally intended.

"Which direction is this Deity head?" she'd asked.

Almost immediately, Pell had manifested a spectral arm and pointed in the same direction as the blinking purple star.

…

…And ultimately led to Uyuniya's present outburst against the Mage.

In response to the princess' frustration, Kintar sighed.

"It's not about whoever this bane of the Primeval Deities is. The truth is, this journey we're on is my—" she spotted Yuyui and Grim frowning at her, "—our, first time in the great void. There's an infinite number of sights to see, but because we're such loyal pricks who would readily make themselves sacrifices for our master's good, we won't get to see a fraction of these sights."

Baddan and Savast didn't say anything despite agreeing with the sentiment. Kintar had long sensed their surging interest in the supposed location of Pell's pirate crew. The eyeball was looking between his captors in silence. It was particularly difficult to discern what he was feeling or thinking just from the state of his pupil. Kiek didn't dare to even raise her head for fear of prompting a quicker death.

…But perhaps their fate was changing.

"I'm not trying to be dismissive," said Kintar, with scarcely-seen consideration. Uyuniya had yet to retort. "But that's just how it is for us. We've decided to pledge a small portion of our interests to something selfish before we head to our inevitable end. Just let us indulge – just a tiny bit."

Uyuniya sighed. When she was angry, her towering figure seemed to grow by several inches. The Stark Troops standing near her slowly scooted away.

"Then I will suffer from the delay," she said. "I told you, didn't I? I'm not just catching a ride home on your vessel, rushing to a vacation. My siblings are insane. My family is chaotic. I was determined to reach Divinity as quickly as possible because tensions were high. With the amount of time that's passed… I do really think something's erupted on Zelozeld. Every second I spend away… even if my presence won't put everything in place… I'm worried..."

Kintar took a moment, swallowing the impulse to say something needlessly mean. Frankly, she couldn't care less about Uyuniya and Zelozeld, but she'd resolved to do better, to be better. There were other people with the capacity to understand her, after all. It wasn't just Allora.

"I'm not trying to make this into a vacation either, you know?" she said. "How about this? I'll slip Amanas into a high-speed mode, and we'll waste no more than a few minutes to check out whether the eyeball is telling the truth or not. Come on. It's either we were duped, and we get to squish the eyeball, or we get to see a Deity's head… and then we squish the eyeball."

Uyuniya didn't reply immediately. She stared long and hard at Kintar, considering the proposal.

Elita had her own concerns.

"Even with that, this is still extremely reckless." She glared at Pell. "If he is lying, it could be a trap we can't escape from. You're being awfully dismissive of that possibility."

Kintar donned a duck face. "If that is the case – that our combined strength isn't enough to save us – then master will bail us out. Easy." She donned a grin. "He has to take care of his Deputy's messes."

Elita chuckled exasperatedly and walked away, shaking her head.

"He can't really bail us out if we're dead, though," said Grim, but he showed no signs of having changed his mind.

"Then make sure you survive as long as possible. Aren't you some watered-down master of death or something now?"

A vein throbbed on Grim's forehead. Yuyui soothed him.

"Fine," said Uyuniya finally. "Let's get a quick look."

And thus, Amanas changed course. Shifting it to the Nordi to Gullin mode, which allowed it to travel at roughly thirty light-years per minute, Kintar donned a bright smile. Everyone could just barely manage moving at this speed. It was still far better than Sliepr.

Something in Kintar lurched excitedly. Indeed, it couldn't be a coincidence: how the purple star had appeared right when Pell and his companions attacked. Was the purple star actually related to the supposed dead Deity's head?

The mystery enthralled her moreso than the prospect of seeing what a dead Divine organism of a high caliber would look like. What would be the answer she would get from this?

The Unlimited Star eyed Pell, who seemed quite relieved. There were a few lies in his tale, true, but there was also truth. The problem was, it was hard to distinguish which was which, even with Savast's powers. That was why Kintar kept checking with him with a stare. Still, the former Cluster General couldn't get anything of note.

Silence pervaded the Metgard. Everyone was doing their utmost to reinforce themselves so that the effects of moving at such high speeds wouldn't affect them. Even the Stark Troops handled Gullin without losing consciousness. Kintar made sure none of them were keeling over before studying Uyuniya and Elita's disapproving expressions.

Suddenly, she couldn't help but wonder if Pherdanta would have chosen this – steering away from the course of the mission just for the sake of feeding curiosity.

'Probably not.'

Amanas fired forth, barely a single image cast across the blanket of darkness marred with rubble from dead worlds, beasts, and tussling energies with no definition.

…But then the vessel met something that was not only defined but comprehensible for the average mind.